Celebration
by KuromiGrrl
Summary: Oops! OK - Take 2! Will Abby enjoy her early Christmas present? Gabby goodness written for iheartgibbs in the Gabby Forum 2010 Secret Santa Exchange.  Mild spoiler for Masquerade  7x14  but not enough to ruin the plot.


TITLE: CELEBRATION

CHARACTERS: Leroy Jethro Gibbs / Abby Sciuto

GENRE: Romance

RATING: K+

SPOILERS: Slight reference to "Masquerade" (7.14) but not enough to ruin the plot of that episode.

December 18 – 15:00

One of the advantages of being the boss was that one could take off for parts unknown and not have anyone say anything…at least to his face. Leroy Jethro Gibbs smirked to himself as that thought crossed his mind. So his coffee break would take a little longer today than usual – still, the only person who would dare question him about his whereabouts would be DiNozzo. And that was one inquiry he could answer easily with a head slap. Or a glare, if he was feeling indulgent. Or both, which would be his inclination. But there were more important things to concentrate on at that particular moment, namely, how he was going to surprise the heck out of his favorite person in the whole world.

Gibbs was not inclined towards celebrating Christmas, at least not since Shannon and Kelly had been alive. However, over the past couple of years he had become more tolerant of the festivities. This was due not to becoming mellower in his older years. Rather, it was the ever-cheerful influence of one Abigail Sciuto, his forensic scientist.

Although a Goth in appearance, Abby reminded him of a Christmas elf, at least between Thanksgiving and New Year's. Every year, the Monday after Thanksgiving Abby's lab magically transformed itself into a winter wonderland of lights, decorations and Christmas carols (which did make for a slightly refreshing change from her usual musical fare – at least he recognized the tunes). The first year she had decorated he kept expecting Santa Claus to come out of the ballistics lab. As the Big Day approached, if it was possible, Abby became more "festive". Presents for the team (and pretty much the entire building – she had so many friends!) began appearing underneath the tree. Then her decorating would begin to spread (like a virus, he thought cynically) out into other departments, namely Autopsy and his own domain, the squad room.

It was that development that had him taking an extra long break this afternoon. It was the week before Christmas and Abby had appeared in the squad room around noon carrying two huge bags of decorations, McGee and DiNozzo following behind her bearing more boxes and bags of…stuff. He politely declined most of the decorations, but did allow her to place one string of tinsel on the edge of his desk. But that was it. McGee's desk, by contrast, rivaled Santa's workshop. Every year it seemed to get more elaborate. Gibbs wouldn't be surprised if this season Abby had pulled some of Lance Corporal Korby's motion-sensor activated tricks from the evidence locker and converted them to a more Christmas-y theme. By the time she was finished three hours later, his team was exhausted and…sparkling. Thank goodness they (so far) hadn't been called out to a case because he didn't know how he would explain why his agents were sporting glitter to the local LEO'S at the scene. Still, there was no way he was going to deny Abby the obvious joy she took at preparing for Christmas. She was his weak spot, and he knew it.

Gibbs gathered his thoughts together. This next mission was time-sensitive and had to be performed without anyone's knowledge, least of all, the intended target. He hadn't been this nervous about an op since…well, it'd been a long time. It was critical that he get in and out without being observed. Arriving in front of his destination, he released the breath he didn't realize he had been holding. Shutting off the ignition, he checked the passenger seat to see he had all his tools, gathered the rest of his gear and headed in.

DECEMBER 18 – 22:00

Abby Sciuto was tired. Like, as in a pooped puppy. Although most of her work was for the MCRT, she still had to run tests and do analysis for other teams. Today had been one of those days. Although Team Gibbs had been stuck in the office bored out of their minds the past week catching up on paperwork and then working on cold cases, she had been working on evidence for three other teams - all at once, of course. Luckily she had put in the last DNA test just 2 hours ago, which would be ready in the morning, which gave her enough time to go home and get some sleep in her own bed for the first time in three days. Unlocking the door to her apartment, she didn't even to bother to turn on the lights as she hopped through the entryway, already beginning to remove her platform boots. Dropping her bag on the floor she balanced one hand against the wall to finish releasing the buckles. Immediately her hand recoiled as she felt something ticklish and furry on the wall. Reaching for the light switch she turned on the hall light to look at the wall – and gasped. The wall was festooned with black and red tinsel. She turned around to look at her living room. In one corner there was a Christmas tree, decorated with black and red ribbons and on top instead of an angel, there was a black skull with a red hair bow and wings. Her fireplace (not working, unfortunately, due to the remodeling of the building) was decorated with holly and hanging off of it was a bulging green and red stocking with her name on it. For once, Abby was speechless. Although she always decorated her lab, she never really bothered to decorate her home, simply because she did not spend enough time there. The majority of her waking hours were spent in her lab, which sometimes felt more like home than her apartment. A big smile spread across her face as she and she twirled around her living room in wobbly (still having one boot on) circles of joy. _There was only one person who could be responsible for pulling off something like this_, she thought to herself. _And I will have to make it up to him. Somehow_.

CHRISTMAS DAY – 12:00

Gibbs sat in his living room drinking a cup of coffee while reading the morning paper. There was nothing to work on in the basement as he had delivered the toys he had built to the children's hospital two days earlier. Normally he would have gone into work because there would be no one around except the security guards but the Director had expressly forbidden him from stepping foot inside the building – something about taking advantage of the holiday. Gibbs snorted to himself at the thought. He hadn't taken notice (nor advantage) of Christmas for a very long time, and didn't plan on starting to, either, any time soon. He stood up and stretched. Noticing the time, he figured he'd go make himself a sandwich for lunch. As he was heading into the kitchen, the doorbell rang. Surprised at the sound, he paused to look at the door. Slowly, it opened and a dark head wearing a Santa hat popped into view.

"Gibbs! You're home!" exclaimed Abby as the rest of her covered in a long black woolen cape made it through the doorway. "I wasn't sure if you were here or not, so I rang the doorbell. Even though I know the door's unlocked. Obviously. But, well, you might've been busy doing something in the basement or perhaps you were entertaining and I wanted to make sure that it was OK that-" Abby seemed nervous about being there and it showed in her voice. Gibbs didn't understand why she was nervous but he took pity on her.

"Abbs!" he interrupted her rambling, "What are you doing here?"

"Merry Christmas, Gibbs!" she smiled shyly at him as she shoved a covered platter at him. "I wanted to thank you for decorating my apartment. In person." Gibbs had wondered during the past week if she had known it was he, as surprisingly she hadn't said anything to anyone about it all week. Still, he wasn't going to own up to it if he didn't have to.

"Who decorated what apartment?" he asked innocently. "Do you want some coffee? What's on the platter?" He watched her wipe her feet on the doormat inside the entrance before following him into the kitchen.

"YOU decorated my apartment. Yes, I would love some coffee, and have you eaten lunch yet, Gibbs?" she asked him as he tried to peek at what was on the platter. He led them both into the kitchen where she immediately sat at the table.

"Nope. Was going to make a sandwich when you showed up." After placing the platter on the kitchen table he went over to turn on the coffee machine. Returning to the table, he lifted the cover off the platter slightly, Gibbs immediately smelled the wonderful aroma of ham wafting from underneath. Removing the cover completely, he discovered that in front of him lay a small baked ham, a bowl of stuffing and another dish of what looked like green bean casserole. "Did you make this all for me?" he asked disbelievingly.

"I wanted you to have something really good and wholesome to eat. It's Christmas, after all, Gibbs!" she replied, "Let me guess – you were going to make a turkey sandwich and then order pizza for dinner." She crossed her arms and frowned up at him. "That's no way to celebrate!"

Gibbs smiled at her. "Thanks, Abbs. You didn't need to do all of this for me." He turned around and crossed the kitchen to grab plates and silverware.

"I know I didn't, but…well…I wanted to. Just because." Coming back to the table, Gibbs noticed Abby fidgeting in her chair. She looked like she was contemplating something. He began serving up the meal for the two of them. Suddenly, her expression relaxed as if she had made a decision. Sitting back in her chair, she crossed her legs and Gibbs noticed two things – she was still wearing her cape and that her legs were bare except for the pair of red platform boots topped with white fur adorning her feet. Incendiary (and highly inappropriate considering Rule #12) thoughts ran through his brain, as well as a question, which ended up coming out of his mouth.

"Aren't you cold, Abbs?" It had snowed earlier that morning and the temperature had dropped below freezing even though it was the middle of the day.

"Well, that's also part of why I came over. I thought you could help me warm up." She stood up with a naughty grin on her face. The hair on the back of Gibbs' neck suddenly stood up in awareness as he saw her approach him like a jaguar stalking its prey. "Remember I said I wanted to thank you for decorating my apartment?" He backed up against the counter but she stood right in front of him and put her arms around his waist.

"Yeah, and I said, I didn't know who decorated your apartment. It was probably Santa Claus, " Gibbs said quickly as he felt her embrace him. Looking down at her, his eyes were caught by the warmth in her emerald gaze.

"Well, can you pass this on to Santa, then?" she murmured while she fiddled with something in the pocket of her cape.

"What?" Gibbs asked, still mesmerized.

"This…" and suddenly Abby pulled a sprig of mistletoe out of her cape and raised it over their heads. She kissed Gibbs on the lips and felt his whole body tense up for a moment before relaxing and then putting his arms around her. It was as if time had stopped for both of them. Gibbs raised one of his hands to tilt her head so that he could deepen the kiss. All thoughts (appropriate or not) fled from their minds as they both concentrated on the heat that flowed through both of them.

When they finally broke apart to take in some much-needed oxygen, Gibbs looked down at the Goth in his arms and grinned. "I don't think I'm going to share that with anyone, most especially with Santa!"

Abby giggled and then kissed him on the nose, leaving a red lipstick print on it, " OK, Rudolph, because I think Mrs. Claus would be quite jealous!" They both laughed at that but the moment was suddenly over as the coffee machine signaled that the brew was ready. Abby pushed Gibbs into his chair while she went over to pour coffee for both of them. He began to eat the food in front of him thinking how nice it was to have Abby visiting him, even if it was Christmas.

Seated as he was with his back towards where she stood at the counter, Abby decided to shed her cape. Underneath it she wore a red satin teddy embroidered with candy canes and a matching thong. When she came back to the table, Gibbs nearly choked on the forkful of food he had just put into his mouth as in his peripheral vision he saw the flash of red and expanse of thigh next to him. "Here's the rest of your Christmas gift. Feel free to unwrap it."

For once in his life, Gibbs was speechless. Reflexively he swallowed then had to take a huge gulp of air. "Abbs, I –"

"Shhh, Gibbs!" Abby placed a gentle finger on his lips. "Don't say anything. Today is a holiday. Did you know that the definition of holiday means a time or period of exemption from any requirement, duty, assessment, et cetera? I want you to take a holiday for once in your life. Celebrate Christmas with me…Jethro…" Gibbs' heartbeat increased when she called him by his first name. He hesitated to answer her as a million reasons why not to ran through his mind. "Please."

His resolve crumbled at that one word, knowing all the while that he could never refuse her anything. "OK, Abby," he replied, "but on one condition." He cupped her chin in his hand. "That this be not the only holiday we celebrate…together…but the first…of many."

Abby gasped and Gibbs chuckled as he watched her eyes light up. "Yes, yes, yes, yes, YES!" She grabbed him and hugged him tightly.

She peppered his face with tiny kisses and he laughed out loud at her exuberance. "I love you, Abby Sciuto!" he declared as he kissed her on the top of her head.

"And I love you, Leroy Jethro Gibbs!" she responded in between kisses that now were making their way down his neck.

"Well, then, I think it's time we go upstairs so I can unwrap my present. Shall we?"

"Ooh, yes! Let's!" He swept her up in his arms and they began to create a whole new set of holiday traditions that they would repeat over and over, for many years to come.

THE END


End file.
